Prepositions

A1 — حروف اضافه

Persian prepositions: the simple ones (در، به، از، با، بی، تا) and the ezafe ones (روی، زیرِ، کنارِ، برای), spoken Tehran usage such as توی and dropping به, and where Persian and English choose different prepositions.

Can say where things are, where I am going and who I am with, using simple prepositions and those that take an ezafe, in written and spoken style.

Examples

کتاب روی میز است. — The book is on the table.
با مترو به دانشگاه می‌روم. — I go to university by metro.
این گل برای مادرم است. — This flower is for my mother.
دارم می‌رم خونه. — I'm going home.
از سگ می‌ترسم. — I'm afraid of dogs.

PrepositionsA1

Prepositions

Learning Goal

Can say where things are, where I am going and who I am with, using simple prepositions and those that take an ezafe, in written and spoken style.

Exam Skills:AZFA · WritingAZFA · Speaking

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

کتاب روی میز است.

The book is on the table.

با مترو به دانشگاه می‌روم.

I go to university by metro.

این گل برای مادرم است.

This flower is for my mother.

دارم می‌رم خونه.

I'm going home.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

Persian prepositions come before the noun, as in English, but they fall into two groups. A handful of short, simple prepositions attach directly to the noun. The rest are really nouns of place ('top', 'underside', 'side') and are linked to what follows with an ezafe.

Romanization follows Tehran pronunciation: â is the long a, kh is the "ch" of Scottish loch, gh stands for both غ and ق, and ' marks a glottal stop.

Simple prepositions (no ezafe)

Persian	Romanization	Meaning	Example
در	dar	in, at (mostly written)	در تهران (dar Tehrân) - in Tehran
به	be	to	به مدرسه (be madrese) - to school
از	az	from; than; of	از شیراز (az Shirâz) - from Shiraz
با	bâ	with; by (transport)	با مترو (bâ metro) - by metro
بی	bi	without	بی شکر (bi shekar) - without sugar
تا	tâ	until, as far as	تا فردا (tâ fardâ) - until tomorrow

Prepositions with an ezafe

Persian	Romanization	Meaning
روی	ru-ye	on (top of)
زیرِ	zir-e	under
توی	tu-ye	in, inside (spoken for در)
کنارِ	kenâr-e	next to
پشتِ	posht-e	behind
جلوی	jelo-ye	in front of
برای	barâ-ye	for
بدونِ	bedun-e	without
نزدیکِ	nazdik-e	near
پیشِ	pish-e	with, at someone's place

The ezafe is pronounced even where it is not written: کتاب روی میز است (ketâb ru-ye miz ast) - The book is on the table. With a pronoun: برای من (barâ-ye man) - for me; پیشِ ما (pish-e mâ) - at our place.

Spoken Tehran

توی replaces در for 'inside': توی کیفمه (tu-ye kifam-e) - It's in my bag.
With verbs of motion به is usually dropped and the place follows the verb: دارم می‌رم خونه (dâram miram khune) - I'm going home. Written: به خانه می‌روم.
برای loses its -ye: برا من (barâ man) - for me.

Where English and Persian part ways

'in Persian' = به فارسی (be fârsi): به فارسی بگو - say it in Persian.
'afraid of' = از + ترسیدن: از سگ می‌ترسم - I'm afraid of dogs.
'thank you' = از شما ممنونم (az shomâ mamnunam) - literally 'I'm grateful from you'.
'than' = از: تهران از شیراز بزرگ‌تر است - Tehran is bigger than Shiraz.
'tell someone' = به: به علی گفتم (be Ali goftam) - I told Ali.

For English speakers

Treat روی، زیر، کنار and the rest as nouns: 'on the table' is 'the top of the table'. That is why they need the ezafe, and why the simple prepositions, which are not nouns, do not take it.

Mistakes English speakers make

Dropping the ezafe of a compound preposition: ru miz - say ru-ye miz.
Adding one to a simple preposition: az-e Tehrân - say az Tehrân.
Translating English 'in' word for word: *در فارسی بگو - say به فارسی بگو.
Leaving out از after ترسیدن: *سگ می‌ترسم - say از سگ می‌ترسم.

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

🇬🇧 English speakers: leaving out the ezafe of روی، زیرِ، کنارِ، برای (ru miz instead of ru-ye miz); adding an ezafe to در، به، از، با; translating English prepositions word for word (*در فارسی بگو instead of به فارسی بگو; *سگ می‌ترسم instead of از سگ می‌ترسم); using written در in casual speech, where توی is natural.

Common Error Patterns

No ezafe after روی، زیر، کنار، برای etc.

These prepositions are nouns of place: say ru-ye miz, zir-e miz, barâ-ye man.

An ezafe after در، به، از، با، بی، تا

Simple prepositions attach directly: az Tehrân, bâ metro.

English preposition translated word for word

Learn the Persian pairing: به فارسی (in Persian), از ... ترسیدن (afraid of), از (than).

کتاب روی میز است.

The book is on the table.

روی میز (ru-ye miz): روی takes an ezafe, written here with its final ی. Written register; spoken: کتاب رو میزه.

با مترو به دانشگاه می‌روم.

I go to university by metro.

با (bâ) for transport and به (be) for the destination: simple prepositions, no ezafe. Written register.

این گل برای مادرم است.

This flower is for my mother.

برای (barâ-ye) = for, with an ezafe; مادرم = my mother. Written register; spoken: این گل برا مامانمه.

دارم می‌رم خونه.

I'm going home.

Spoken Tehran: no به, and the destination خونه (khune, written خانه) follows the verb.

از سگ می‌ترسم.

I'm afraid of dogs.

ترسیدن takes از: 'to fear from'. The noun is singular for a whole kind of thing (سگ, dog). Same in speech and writing.

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Frequently asked questions

When do you use Prepositions?: Persian prepositions come before the noun, as in English, but they fall into two groups. A handful of short, simple prepositions attach directly to the noun. The rest are really nouns of place ('top', 'underside', 'side') and are linked to what follows with an ezafe.
How do you form Prepositions?: Romanization follows Tehran pronunciation: â is the long a, kh is the "ch" of Scottish loch, gh stands for both غ and ق, and ' marks a glottal stop. The ezafe is pronounced even where it is not written: کتاب روی میز است (ketâb ru-ye miz ast) - The book is on the table. With a pronoun: برای من (barâ-ye man) - for me; پیشِ ما (pish-e mâ) - at our place. Treat روی، زیر، کنار and the rest as nouns: 'on the table' is 'the top of the table'. That is why they need the ezafe, and why the simple prepositions, which are not nouns, do not take it.
What are common mistakes with Prepositions?: 🇬🇧 English speakers: leaving out the ezafe of روی، زیرِ، کنارِ، برای (ru miz instead of ru-ye miz); adding an ezafe to در، به، از، با; translating English prepositions word for word (*در فارسی بگو instead of به فارسی بگو; *سگ می‌ترسم instead of از سگ می‌ترسم); using written در in casual speech, where توی is natural.

Persian

Romanization

Meaning

Example

در

dar

in, at (mostly written)

در تهران (dar Tehrân) - in Tehran

به

به مدرسه (be madrese) - to school

از

from; than; of

از شیراز (az Shirâz) - from Shiraz

با

bâ

with; by (transport)

با مترو (bâ metro) - by metro

بی

without

بی شکر (bi shekar) - without sugar

تا

tâ

until, as far as

تا فردا (tâ fardâ) - until tomorrow

Persian

Romanization

Meaning

روی

ru-ye

on (top of)

زیرِ

zir-e

under

توی

tu-ye

in, inside (spoken for در)

کنارِ

kenâr-e

next to

پشتِ

posht-e

behind

جلوی

jelo-ye

in front of

برای

barâ-ye

for

بدونِ

bedun-e

without

نزدیکِ

nazdik-e

near

پیشِ

pish-e

with, at someone's place

Frequently asked questions

When do you use Prepositions?

How do you form Prepositions?

Romanization follows Tehran pronunciation: â is the long a, kh is the "ch" of Scottish loch, gh stands for both غ and ق, and ' marks a glottal stop. The ezafe is pronounced even where it is not written: کتاب روی میز است (ketâb ru-ye miz ast) - The book is on the table. With a pronoun: برای من (barâ-ye man) - for me; پیشِ ما (pish-e mâ) - at our place. Treat روی، زیر، کنار and the rest as nouns: 'on the table' is 'the top of the table'. That is why they need the ezafe, and why the simple prepositions, which are not nouns, do not take it.

What are common mistakes with Prepositions?

🇬🇧 English speakers: leaving out the ezafe of روی، زیرِ، کنارِ، برای (ru miz instead of ru-ye miz); adding an ezafe to در، به، از، با; translating English prepositions word for word (*در فارسی بگو instead of به فارسی بگو; *سگ می‌ترسم instead of از سگ می‌ترسم); using written در in casual speech, where توی is natural.